''I am deeply shocked and sorrowed by the news of the tragic accident that caused the death of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, the entire delegation accompanying him as well as the crew,'' said Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, following the plane crash on 10 April. ''I would like to assure the Polish authorities and the Polish people that the Council of Europe stands beside Poland in these tragic hours,'' he added.
The Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Head of Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, addressed a message of condolences and solidarity to the Polish people. ''This tragedy plunges Poland as well as the whole of the Council of Europe into mourning,'' she said.
Parliamentary Assembly President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, declared in a statement: ''I believe it is highly symbolic that the Polish President's last mission – attending a commemoration of the Katyn massacre – was about seeking historical justice and bringing about reconciliation.''
Thorbjørn Jagland declared Monday 12 April as an official day of mourning at the Council of Europe.
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